Study On The Confidentiality Of International Commercial Arbitration

There are few solutions to disputes in international commercial activities; therefore, the parties always choose litigation and arbitration when disputes rise. As is known to all that open trial is the principle of judicial proceedings which means the public can listen to, journalists can report, and the final award is also open to the public. So this kind of hearing becomes transparent to the public. On the contrary, some materials in the international commercial activities usually can not be open to the public. Then the parties who want to keep it secret tend to choose arbitration because of its confidentiality. This nature, as a principle rule, has a great significance for the parties. It can protect the commercial secrets, maintain business reputation, and avoid more disputes. While one party is a country, the situation is the same. There are three different views on the legal basis of arbitration confidentiality in the private law theory: the implied clause, contract obligation and legal provisions. All national legislations and judicial practice based on the three different opinions of arbitration confidentiality, results in inconsistency in the arbitration practice. International commercial arbitration confidentiality comprises the following content: subject, scope, and application exception. The subject includes parties, arbitrators and the other participants. The scope of the application concerns the facts, the arbitration procedure, the relevant documents and the final arbitration award. Of course, it is not absolute. It may also contain some exceptions, such as the agreement of two parties, the order of the court and public interest. Based on the introduction of what is arbitration confidentiality, legal status, legal sources and other related issues, major countries' major arbitration law and the arbitration rules of arbitration institutions, and major countries' judicial practices are researched, in order to indicate the significance of arbitration confidentiality in the development of international commercial arbitration. The defects and shortcomings of Chinese Arbitration Law and Rules are analyzed, with the purpose to find out how to construct China's legal system of arbitration confidentiality, hope to improve our international commercial arbitration.